1987 Cannondale Black Lightning (w/ PICS)

Hi folks. I just wanted to get your thoughts on my newest acquisition, my 1987 Black Lightning. I picked this up off of craigslist from the original owner. The plan is to modernize it a bit. It took a spill and the guy put on a 105 RD. I think I will expand the group slowly. The crankset is shot.

oh yeah... I found these at home while I was visiting for the holidays

I've decided to post pics of the finished project for those of you who don't want to skim 4 pages of build thread. (If you want to see the agony, keep reading)...

Nice rig. If you modernize it, keep the original parts on hand since people like to keep these babies original in their all black coolness. Also, if it's too small for you I will happily take it off your hands as it appears to be my size...

Oh and I bet you'll be getting a PM shortly from a prolific C&V'er offering to buy your saddle

~ "I like the way the brake cables come out of the top of the levers and loop around to the brake calipers!...I like those downtube shifters too!...No no no, don't take 'em off, don't take 'em off,...leave 'em on, leave 'em on! - Thats right baby!!

That was my first and only Cannondale, bought as a used frameset in 2002 and built it up with mostly 105 parts. Beautiful lightweight and stiff bike with great handling. Sold me on aluminum road bikes and I have been riding one ever since......

Just your average 'high-functioning' lunatic, capable of passing as 'normal' for short periods of time.....

That was my first and only Cannondale, bought as a used frameset in 2002 and built it up with mostly 105 parts. Beautiful lightweight and stiff bike with great handling. Sold me on aluminum road bikes and I have been riding one ever since......

That's quite the coincidence. Did the OP know you were on BF? I mean, how often does that happen?

The bike came with a seven speed freewheel and a different set of wheels. It is "borrowing" a set of wheels off my other bike as the stock set had crap tires and some wobble. I have it tuned to a six speed freewheel at this time.
Unfortunately, I had to leave town for a few days right after I picked it up, so I was only able to test the shifting. I'm excited about this thing because it's my first real performance based platform.
Moving forward, I am wondering about wheel compatability. The plan is to use a modern cassette hubbed wheelset. Do I need to worry about chainstay widths?

The bike came with a seven speed freewheel and a different set of wheels. It is "borrowing" a set of wheels off my other bike as the stock set had crap tires and some wobble. I have it tuned to a six speed freewheel at this time.
Unfortunately, I had to leave town for a few days right after I picked it up, so I was only able to test the shifting. I'm excited about this thing because it's my first real performance based platform.
Moving forward, I am wondering about wheel compatability. The plan is to use a modern cassette hubbed wheelset. Do I need to worry about chainstay widths?

You can jam a 130mm rear wheel in and run modern components. Many of us have done it with old Cannondales. You can't "cold set" it though.

Are there any chainrings out there that are black anodized? I have seen pics of the black lightnings with shiny alloy rings and cranksets and wondering if they wore the black off or scuffed them in wrecks so switched over to a more uniform look conventional chainring.

Having a flat tire as part of the total cycling experience is highly overrated. Knowing how to fix one quickly is not.